Institutional Evaluation Programme Performance in Research, Performance in Teaching – Quality, Diversity, and Innovation in Romanian Universities Project Ovidius University of Constanta EVALUATION REPORT May 2013 Team: Sijbolt Noorda, Chair Lucka Lorber Jacques Lanares Annakaisa Tikkinen Don McQuillan, Team Coordinator Table of contents 1. Introduction 3 2. Governance and institutional decision-making 6 3. Teaching and Learning 12 4. Research 14 5. Service to Society 17 6. Quality Culture 17 7 Internationalisation 20 8. Conclusion 21 Summary of Recommendations 22 2 1. Introduction This report is the result of the evaluation of Ovidius University of Constanta (OUC). The evaluation took place in 2013 in the framework of the project “Performance in Research, Performance in Teaching – Quality, Diversity, and Innovation in Romanian Universities”, which aims at strengthening core elements of Romanian universities, such as their autonomy and administrative competences, by improving their quality assurance and management proficiency. The evaluations are taking place within the context of major reforms in the Romanian higher education system, and specifically in accordance with the provisions of the 2011 Law on Education and the various related normative acts. While the institutional evaluations are taking place in the context of an overall reform, each university is assessed by an independent IEP team, using the IEP methodology described below. 1.1. The Institutional Evaluation Programme The Institutional Evaluation Programme (IEP) is an independent membership service of the European University Association (EUA) that offers evaluations to support the participating institutions in the continuing development of their strategic management and internal quality culture. The IEP is a full member of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) and is listed in the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR). The distinctive features of the Institutional Evaluation Programme are: A strong emphasis on the self-evaluation phase A European perspective A peer-review approach A support to improvement The focus of the IEP is the institution as a whole and not the individual study programmes or units. It focuses upon: Decision-making processes and institutional structures and effectiveness of strategic management. Relevance of internal quality processes and the degree to which their outcomes are used in decision making and strategic management as well as perceived gaps in these internal mechanisms. 3 The evaluation is guided by four key questions, which are based on a ‘fitness for (and of) purpose’ approach: What is the institution trying to do? How is the institution trying to do it? How does it know it works? How does the institution change in order to improve? 1.2 Ovidius University of Constanta and the national context Ovidius University of Constanta is an accredited public institution of higher education in the city of Constanta, the third largest city in Romania. Constanta is the capital of the historical province of Dobrudja and is a centre of cultural, historic and commercial importance. Situated on the Black Sea, it is also the fourth largest port in Europe. From small beginnings in 1961 the university has developed into an institution with 18,352 students in academic year 2011- 2012: 14,250 in Bachelor’s programmes, 2 844 in Master’s and 594 doctoral students. The student numbers have been in decline over recent years: in 2009-2010 the corresponding figures were 15,830, 4 243, 777, while in 2010-2011 they were 15,502, 3 204, 659. Academic staff numbers have also been in decline: from 756 in 2009-2010 to 719 in 2011-2012. In this context the SER makes two important points: in recent years the law has severely restricted both promotion and recruitment of staff in the higher education sector, and over this same period Romania’s school population has dramatically decreased and, consequently, the number of high school graduates and would-be students has diminished. There are sixteen faculties: dentistry; economic sciences; history and political sciences; medicine; pharmacy; psychology and sciences of education; letters; physical education and sports; theology; mathematics and informatics; physics, chemistry, electronics and petroleum technology; arts; natural and agricultural sciences; law, administrative sciences and sociology; constructions; mechanical, industrial and maritime engineering. The university has 27 buildings, some of which are rented, with a total area of 48,377 square meters. The educational facilities, including auditoriums, lecture rooms, seminar rooms, laboratories and reading rooms cover a total area of about 22,938 square meters. The self- evaluation report (SER) notes that “all classrooms are equipped with state of the art furnishings and technology, and were developed with the objective to cater for the needs of each study programme, and the number of students enrolled in it”. As noted above, the present evaluation takes place in the context of an institutional evaluation of Romanian universities. The process aims primarily at: Evaluating the extent to which each university fulfils its stated institutional mission; Supporting universities in further improving quality provision and strategic management capacity through targeted recommendations; 4 Supporting universities in enhancing their institutional quality assurance mechanisms; Providing policy inputs through cluster reports and a final system review report that will support the Romanian authorities in further developing higher education policies. 1.3. The self-evaluation process The self-evaluation process was led by a group made up of senior staff members and representatives of students, approved by the Senate. Input was requested from all sections of the university community: administrative leaders, deans and representatives of faculties, academic and research personnel, students’ associations, representatives of the trade unions and employers. While the SER contained much useful information the evaluation team found that it did not present a well-rounded description of the university and how it functions. It was not sufficiently reflective and analytical, and missed the opportunity to highlight the university’s strong points and processes. The evaluation team would have found it helpful to see summary descriptions of the university’s governance and administrative structures; the roles and functions of the rector, senate and administrative board; the university’s policies on research, teaching and learning, internationalisation, quality assurance, regional partners. There were 31 appendices written in Romanian and no translation provided. This meant that a great deal of time was spent on the first visit eliciting basic information about the university. 1.4. The evaluation team The self-evaluation report of Ovidius University, together with the appendices, was sent to the evaluation team in good time. The two visits of the evaluation team (hereafter the team) took place on 13-15 January 2013 and 9-12 April 2013, respectively. In between the visits the university provided the evaluation team with additional documentation. The evaluation team consisted of: Professor Sijbolt Noorda, former President of University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, team chair Professor Lucka Lorber, Vice-rector, University of Maribor, Slovenia Professor Jacques Lanares, Vice-rector, University of Lausanne, Switzerland Annakaisa Tikkinen, Academic Officer of Student Union, University of Oulu, Finland Professor Don McQuillan, former Chief Executive Irish Universities Quality Board, Ireland, team coordinator The team would like to warmly acknowledge the cooperation and hospitality received throughout the two visits. We thank the Rector, Professor Danut-Tiberius Epure, who signed the invitation letter, the vice-rectors and other leaders, who actively supported us, and all the 5 staff and students, as well as stakeholders from outside the institution, for their helpful contribution to the discussions. We thank Alina Lascu for organising the documentation, liaising with the team and maintaining our daily schedule. We trust that our joint efforts will provide a sound springboard for OUC as it moves into the next phase of its evolution. 6 2. Governance and institutional decision making 2.1 Governance, organisation The University Charter specifies the following structures: (1) University Senate. The University Senate is made up of 75% tenured and research staff and 25% student representatives, all elected by direct and secret vote of their constituencies. Each faculty has elected representatives on the Senate. The Senate elects a president by secret ballot. The president chairs meetings of the Senate and represents the Senate in its relations with the rector. (2) Rector. The rector is elected by secret vote of all established teaching and research staff of the university and the student representatives in the Senate and Faculty Councils. The appointment is confirmed by the Minister of Education. (3) Administrative Board. The Administrative Board is composed of the rector, the vice- rectors and the faculty deans. The rector appoints five vice-rectors: strategy, institutional development and quality management; education and training; scientific research, development, innovation and relationships with socio-economic environment; image, communication and social problems students; international relations and foreign students. We